Dead Endz (11 page)

“But everyone can appreciate a nice pair of high heels. They raise the butt… ”

Nora snorted. “Typical man.”

I would have loved to have seen Nora’s expression when Billie was wearing heels.

“I don’t know, maybe I’m better without them. They’re a little hard to walk in,” I said. I felt like a new foal walking around in the pumps. I’d never been much for high heels.

“They double as a weapon though,” said Billie. “The heels are sharp and if anything, you can just carry them around.”

“I don’t care. The moment I find a pair of tennis shoes or boots, these are getting tossed into the streets,” I said.

Nora took her time in the shower and when she came down to the kitchen, she was scowling. “What in the hell was up with the woman of the house? She must have been a stripper or something.”

I bit back a smile, her dress was skimpier than mine and she wore sliver platform sandals. Interestingly enough, she was much better with heels than I was.

“I think we should go next door and see if there are more appropriate clothes available,” I said.

Just then Billie, who’d been packing the SUV with more supplies, came rushing into the kitchen. “We have company and they don’t look friendly,” he said.

Nora and I rushed to the front of the house and looked out the window. Three burly biker type of guys had pulled up in a tall pickup and were heading towards the front door, carrying guns.

“Did they see you?” I asked.

He sighed. “Probably.

“Shit, we need weapons,” snapped Nora, clacking into the kitchen with her heels. Fortunately, the butcher block still had knives and we grabbed them.

“Do you have the keys to the SUV?” I whispered to Billie as we snuck out the kitchen patio door.

“Shit,” he said, feeling in his pockets. “I think I might have left them on the back bumper of the SUV.”

“Nice going, Sherlock,” snapped Nora.

“Hey, you should be lucky I found you,” he snapped back. “You probably would have been zombie chow by now if I wouldn’t have bumped into you when I did.”

“Bullshit, we were doing just fine without you,” growled Nora.

“Quit fighting,” I hissed. “Let’s just sneak around to the SUV and get the hell out of here.”

We crept around to the front of the house and Billie grabbed the keys, which were actually lying on the ground behind the SUV.

“Leaving so soon,” snorted a greasy haired guy with tattoos all over his thick arms. He spat out a wad of tobacco and cocked his gun.

“Listen, we don’t want any trouble,” said Billie, raising his hands. “You can have whatever you want.”

The other two guys, both muscle-bound and scarier than all crap, stepped out of the house and cocked their guns. “See, I told you I saw something,” said the shorter guy with a thin white scar on the side of his cheek.

The taller one with a goatee, who appeared to be the leader, nodded. “Good job Bones,” he said in a deep gravelly voice. “You three…toss the knives away and get on the ground.”

“I think we got ourselves a couple of strippers,” chuckled Scar Face, smiling down at us in amusement as we got on our knees.

Nora opened her mouth to correct him but he’d given me an idea, so I cut her off.

“Yeah,” I said, trying to smile as friendly as I could under the circumstances. “You’re right. Our specialty is totally nude private dances. We rock at those.”

Billie raised his eyebrows.

The leader’s eyes narrowed. “Nude, huh? So I suppose you’re thinking we’ll let you live if you have something else worth more value?”

Nora, who I have learned to never underestimate, played along. She stood up and hiked her dress up a little further. “Oh, I know we have something else of value that is pretty rare these days. And I just showered, baby.”

“Sounds good to me!” said Bones as he grabbed Nora’s arm and started leading her into the house. “I’ll take this one.”

“We don’t have time for this,” snarled the leader, rubbing his chin. “I told Belinda we’d be back before dark and it’s getting late.”

“Belinda, is she your girlfriend?” I asked, sticking my chest and my butt out, like Eva used to.

His eyes raked over my body and he licked his lips. “Um, not really,” he said. “Fact is, I never said we were exclusive.”

That was all I needed. I swung my hips and walked towards him, trying not to trip on my heels. When I stood directly in front of him, I fluttered my eyelashes. “You know, I so love a man with a goatee.”

“If you don’t take this one, Charlie, I will,” said Scar Face, coming up behind me.

Charlie swore under his breath. “Okay, watch pretty boy here while I see what she has under that little piece of cloth.”

“Fine,” he said. “But I’m next, though.”

I tried not to show my revulsion. He was happy with sloppy seconds?

Charlie grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house, where it seemed deathly quiet. “Upstairs,” he said. “You go first, sweetheart.”

I went ahead of him and I could feel the heat of his eyes burning my rear. I led him to one of the smaller bedrooms and he closed the door behind us, locking it.

“Okay, show me what you got,” he said with a lustful gleam in his eyes.

“I’d feel better if you weren’t pointing the gun at me,” I said softly.

“Okay. But no funny business,” he replied, putting the gun in the back of his pants.

“Um, it’s hard without music,” I said.

“I’ve got a flute you can play,” he said with a creepy smile.

Gross.

“Why don’t you sit down on the bed?”

“Good idea,” he said, walking over and sitting down on the small twin bed.

My heart was beating rapidly and I wasn’t sure what to do next.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” he said. “Take it off.”

I curled my finger. “Actually, why don’t you come and help me,” I said.

“Jesus, make up your mind,” he muttered.

“I like to watch you move,” I answered. “You’re so big and burly,” I swallowed back my bile. “It...turns me on.”

He grinned proudly and stood up. Just as I was about to deliver a round house kick to his face, there was a soft knock at the door.

“What in the hell?” growled Charlie as he turned away from me and stormed towards the door. When he opened it, Nora stood on the other side, holding a gun.

“I need to borrow some sugar,” she murmured and then pulled the trigger.

The gun exploded and Charlie fell backwards as the bullet penetrated his left eye. His blood sprayed everywhere and I shuddered.

“Let’s go,” she said as I stared at her in shock.

I stepped over big chunks of brain matter, trying not to get any on my heels. “I can’t believe you shot him, just like that.”

“Had to. You know he would have killed all of us if given the chance,” she answered. “Now quite being such a pansy, Wild, and grab his gun.”

The sound of the gun going off had been loud and I only hoped that Scar Face hadn’t noticed it. “Yeah, but I could have taken him out, quietly,” I said. “Now the third gunman knows someone was shot. He’s probably ready for us.”

Just then Billie walked through the bedroom door with a gun and a horrified expression. “Jesus, I guess you took care of Charlie.”

“What about the guy with the scar?” I asked.

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” he said. “He got so worked up thinking about you girls putting out that I had his gun before he knew what hit him.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” said Nora. “Before any zombies smell the fresh scent of blood and head over.”

We followed Billie back downstairs and got into the SUV.

“They’re already on it,” pointed Nora.

“How in the hell do they do that?” I asked, looking passed the other houses where a stampede of zombies and all of their wonderful smells were now heading in our direction. We rolled up our windows.

“It’s like they have super senses or something,” said Nora.

“Okay ladies, where to?” asked Billie, backing out of the driveway.

I locked my door and sighed. “The only place I can think of, back to the C.D.C.”

“I tell you it’s a dead end,” said Billie.

“I don’t care, it’s all I have right now.”

Chapter Twenty

A couple of military trucks were parked outside of the C.D.C. when we returned. I was so excited that I would have exploded out of the SUV if Nora wouldn’t have knocked me back to reality.

“Hey…hey…hey…what are you doing?!” she hollered as I was opening the door. “They were the ones who locked you up. Jesus, they’re probably looking for you right now, Wild.”

I removed my hand from the door handle. “Dammit. What are we supposed to do, then?”

“Let me go in and see what I can find,” said Billie. “I’ll try talking to them, I’m sure they know where they moved your sister.”

I touched his arm. “Would you? Thank you Billie.”

He looked at my hand on his forearm and nodded. “You saved my life a few days ago and I’d do anything for you and your family.”

I hugged him. “Thanks Billie.”

When I released him he stared into my eyes. “Give me until darkness falls and if I don’t make it back, leave.”

It would be dark in the next two hours. “If you don’t make it back to the SUV, we’re coming to look for you,” I said.

He shook his head. “No, just get the hell out of here. If they get their hands on you and lock you up, that’s not going to help you find your sister or family.”

I sighed. “Fine. Just be careful.”

He smiled and then kissed my cheek. “I’ll be back.”

When he left I could hear Nora chuckling in the back seat. “That boy has the fricken
hots
for you, Wild.”

I turned around and looked at her. “No, we’ve just been through a lot together. We’re good friends.”

Her lips twisted back into a smile. “Right, I saw the way he looked at you.”

I sighed. “He’s lonely and doesn’t have anyone left in the world. We’re more like… brother and sister. Besides, he knows of my feelings for Bryce.”

“I hate to say this but you don’t even know if Bryce is still alive.”

“If there’s one person who could continue to survive in this crap, its Bryce,” I said softly.

“Well, for your sake, I hope so,” she said.

“I never did ask you about Scott.”

Her lips tightened. “What about him?”

“Do you know if he’s alive?”

She sighed. “I… don’t know. After the shit went down, we were separated and I have no idea what happened to him.”

“You really liked him, didn’t you?” I asked.

She laid her head back against the seat and stared outside. “Look, Wild. I didn’t really know him that well.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t have feelings for him.”

“He was a nice guy. I mean, I hope he survived this shit, but I’m not going to hold my breath thinking that I’ll see him again. I’m not even certain I’ll get a chance to look my old man in the face again.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

We sat in silence, staring at the building Billie had disappeared into. Once in a while a zombie would stagger by, but none of them seemed to notice our existence.

“It’s already getting dark,” I murmured after about an hour. “I wonder what’s happening inside.”

Her face darkened. “I have this bad feeling, Wild,” she answered. “I don’t trust the soldiers, not after what I’ve seen.”

I sighed. “I wonder if we should go and see if he’s okay?”

“You heard Billie; he said to leave if he doesn’t make it back by dark. We go and look for him; that might place us all in more danger.”

“Maybe.”

“The soldiers aren’t after
him
for any reason. He might even get some answers.”

I sighed. “I suppose.”

“We’ll wait another half hour and then take off.”

The thought of abandoning Billie sounded horrible and went against everything I believed in. I turned back towards the building and watched nervously as a few zombies wandered around through the courtyard. Ten minutes later Billie scrambled through the door and raced towards us. I sighed in relief.

“What happened?” I asked as he jumped in.

He started the engine and began driving. “The soldiers said they relocated everyone to Emory Hospital.”

I smiled. “Seriously? Thank God! Do you know how to get there?”

He nodded. “They told me roughly where it is. The problem is that’s where the zombies are heading. The smell of life and blood is obviously drawing them.”

I bit the side of my lip. “Did you find out anything else? Like if my sister was sent there?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t exactly ask. I was afraid they’d detain me if I asked questions specifically about you or your family. I heard them talking about your escape when I first approached them.”

“What were they saying?” I asked.

“That they were searching for you. The fact that you beat the virus means there’s a possible cure.”

I looked away. “I’d be happy to help them out but not as a prisoner.”

“No shit,” said Nora.

“Well, they want you and bad,” he said.

“That really worries me,” I said, trying not to cry. “If they need
me
so much…then Allie must not have beaten the virus.”

“Hey,” he said.

I turned towards him and could feel a stray tear slide down my cheek. I brushed it away.

He lifted my chin with his finger and then looked me in the eye. “Don’t ever give up hope. You’re a survivor and I have faith that your sister is, too. Don’t ever give up hope, Cassie. That’s what you’ve told me.”

“Hope? I tell you what, it’s a lot easier to preach it then it is to believe in it these days,” I said.

“That might be so but it’s still very good advice,” he said. “You know, thinking of you gave me hope when I found myself alone in Florida. I lost two of my best friends, my parents were missing and everything they had was destroyed and I just kept thinking about you and your incredible will to survive. I mean, you’re so young and yet you escaped from a psychotic dickhead, made it across the country to find your family, escaped after being caged up here. You also kicked plenty of zombie ass, helped everyone more than once to stay alive, and never complained about anything. Someone is watching over you and I have faith that everything is going to work out for the best. Just don’t lose that hope, kid. Promise?”